William John Garnon (Bulldog Bill Garnon)
British heavyweight wrestling Champion (please scroll down for English)
Roedd yn cael ei adnabod ledled y byd fel “Bulldog Bill”. Rhoddodd reslo proffesiynol ar fap Prydain. Gallai blygu darnau arian a gwasgu’r sydd o afal gyda’i ddwylo. Roedd Bill Garnon yn arloeswr reslo a ddaeth yn reslwr proffesiynol cyntaf y DU o dan reolau dull rhydd modern yr 1930au. Daeth yn bencampwr pwysau trwm Prydain.
Roedd Bill yn pwyso ugain stôn. Enillodd 33 buddugoliaeth mewn 35 gornest a chafodd yrfa lwyddiannus yn yr Unol Daleithau. Ymladdodd o flaen 22,000 o bobl yng Ngerddi ‘Madison Square’ ar yr un noson â’r “meistr reslo diamheuol” Jim Londos. Hefyd, ymladdodd yng Ngharchar enwog Sing Sing yn Nhalaith Efrog Newydd, lle cadwyd 2,000 o garcharorion dan reolaeth gyda bomiau nwy dagrau.
Bu’n reslo yn erbyn llawer o ymladdwyr o safon fyd-eang ei ddydd, gan gynnwys Jack Sherry, Dick Shikat a’r chwedlonol Karl Pojello, a threchodd y reslwr Tsieineaidd Wong Buk Cheung yn ei ornest gyntaf yn Efrog Newydd.
Dywedwyd iddo gael ei ‘ddarganfod’ gyntaf gan asiant reslo wrth godi olwynion trên yn yr orsaf yn Wdig. Fe’i anogwyd i ddefnyddio’i gryfder i wneud ei fywoliaeth. Roedd si ar led hefyd y byddai’n taflu ei hun ar lawr concrit, o uchder o 6 troedfedd, oherwydd ei fod yn “dda i’r cefn”.
Ond er gwaethaf ei gampau yn y sgwar restlo, mae Bill Garnon yn cael ei adnabod yn annwyl fel y “cawr tyner” gan deulu a ffrindiau yn Abergwaun. Dychwelodd Garnon i Abergwaun ym 1934. Cafodd niwed yn ystod y Ryfel wrth weithio gyda’r gwasanaeth ‘Civil Defence’ yn Llundain, ond dychwelodd i’r cylch restlo. Wedyn, symudodd i Bolton yn y 1950au, lle roedd ganddo ddau fab. Yno y daeth ei yrfa i ben pan gafodd ei daro gan fws mewn damwain ar y ffordd. Dywedodd ffrindiau ar y pryd y byddai’r ergyd wedi lladd dyn llai. Fel yr oedd, cafodd Garnon blât metel wedi’i roi yn ei ben a symud i fyw at ei frawd, Dai, yn Abergwaun lle cafodd swydd yn y gwaith arfau llyngesol sydd bellach yn segur yn Nhrecwn.
Roedd Garnon – a fu farw ym 1979, yn 71 oed, yn gymeriad, bob amser yn adrodd straeon am ei ornestau. Roedd yn dal yn ddyn pwerus yn ei henaint.
Born in Fishguard in February 1908, William John Garnon, was the eldest son of Thomas and Phoebe Garnon and lived on The Slade, Fishguard. His father was a greaser on the Great Western Railway and when old enough, he too started work on the railway.
He was known throughout the world as “Bulldog Bill”. He put professional wrestling on the British map. He could bend coins and pulp apples with his hands. Bill Garnon was a wrestling pioneer and became the UK’s first professional wrestler under modern freestyle rules in the 1930s, when he became the British heavyweight champion.
The 20 stone wrestler – who had a record of 33 wins in 35 bouts – also had a successful career in the US which included fights in front of 22,000 people at Madison Square Garden on the same bill as the “undisputed master of wrestling” Jim Londos, and at New York State’s notorious Sing Sing Prison, where 2,000 prisoners were kept under control with tear gas bombs.
He wrestled many world-class performers of his day, including Jack Sherry, Dick Shikat and the legendary Karl Pojello, and he defeated Chinese wrestler Wong Buk Cheung in his first New York bout.
He was reportedly first spotted by a wrestling agent while lifting train wheels and was encouraged to use his strength to make his living. It was also rumoured that he would throw himself on to a concrete floor from a height of 6ft because it was “good for the back”.
But despite his fearsome reputation, Bill Garnon is affectionately known as the “gentle giant” by family and friends in Fishguard. Garnon returned to Fishguard in 1934. He was in London during WWII and was injured while serving with the Civil Defence force. He moved to Bolton in the 1950s, where he had two sons. It was there that his career was ended when he was hit by a bus in a blow that friends said at the time would have killed a lesser man. As it was, Garnon recovered in spite of having to endure a metal plate fitted. He moved back to Fishguard and lived with his brother Dai. He got a job in the now disused naval armaments depot at Trecwn.
Garnon – who died in 1979, aged 71, was a character, always telling stories about his fights. He was still a powerful man in old age.
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